The present invention relates to a novel implement for and method of emptying the contents of a conventional ostomy bag and, more specifically, to a simple, manually manipulated instrument and method of use thereof in facilitating evacuation of the contents of an ostomy bag.
Surgical procedures providing substitute paths for evacuation of body wastes necessitated by removal or lack of function of basic elements of the gastrointestinal or urinary tracts have been successfully practiced for many years. For example, the two principal types of surgeries involving the intestinal tract are colostomy and ileostomy. A number of variants of these procedures, as well as other types of ostomy surgery are commonly performed, over one million Americans being ostomates and a large number of people in the United States undergo ostomy surgery each year.
The bowel waste and other effluent diverted through the colon to the surface of the abdomen is discharged through a surgically-created exit or "stoma" into a flexible bag or pouch having an opening communicating therewith. The cost of the pouches, and frequency with which they must be emptied and/or replaced, often makes it economically unfeasible to discard the pouches with each replacement. Thus, drainable pouches are conventionally used to permit emptying the contents through an opening in one end, remote from the stoma-communicating opening, into a suitable receptacle, whereby the pouch can be used through multiple emptying cycles.
The emptying of the pouch is performed manually, removing the clamp normally sealing the drainage opening and directing the effluent into a toilet or other receptacle. The pouch is usually squeezed manually and may be flushed with water to complete the emptying operation. The pouch, particularly the end having the drainage opening, is wiped with tissues and the clamp replaced. The procedure is almost always messy and disagreeable.
Prior U.S. patents which use tools to clean ostomy bags may be seen in the Downey U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,106 for an implement for a evacuating the contents of a drainable ostomy pouch and has connected arms which squeeze on the pouch and can be used to squeeze the contents out the drainage opening. The Arcand U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,785 is for a colostomy washing device for washing out a colostomy bag. The Marsan U.S. Pat. No. 2,928,393 is a colostomy appliance which provides for an insertion nozzle for cleaning the bag. The Voorhies patent is a kit for an ostomate which attaches a tube with a nozzle on the end thereof for insertion into an ostomy bag for spraying inside the ostomy bag for cleaning the bag. The Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 2,664,573 is an excrement disposal device which can be mounted adjacent a toilet and has an opening for connecting adjacent a patient's stoma opening. The Fenton U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,037 is an ostomy pouch irrigator which inserts a nozzle into an ostomy bag for spraying and cleaning the bag. The Fenton U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,359 is a clamp closure assembly for an ostomy bag.